Rang De, is a not-for-profit organisation that enables Indians to lend as little as Rs. 100
(microcredit) to low income households to start a business through RangDe.Org. In short,
you become a banker to the poor, creating new opportunities for them, allowing them to
succeed without having to migrate to overburdened cities.

Rang De is a registered public charitable trust and is registered under the relevant Income
Tax Acts of Section 10(g) and Section 12 (A)

Borrowers of Rang De's loans

Rang De's borrowers are from rural areas. They use the loans as working capital to start or
grow their small businesses (e.g., tailoring, animal rearing, and petty shop). Most of the
borrowers are women. Lending to women makes a rural household stronger as it adds an
additional source of income which will help discourage child labour in low income families.
The low interest rate on the loan also helps borrowers to save money which they can spend
on education, healthcare, and sanitation.

How Rang De works

• Rang De posts borrower profiles on RangDe.Org for 30 days
• People can lend (make a social investment) to the borrower in this 30 day duration to become a social investor
• After 30 days, Rang De disburses the loan to its field partners (NGOs across India) to be given to the borrower
• Borrower repays loan with interest over a year or two and the social investors get their money credited to their Rang De Account.

None — however, since borrowers are part of Self Help Groups (SHG) or Joint Liability
Groups (JLG), the peer pressure to repay is high. This group concept has been successful
world over and the repayment rate is more than 95%. Rang De has observed a similar
trend. The repayment rate can be found on RangDe.Org

Defaults due to borrower casualties are repaid back to the social investor from our
contingency fund.

How Rang De is different from other micro lending organisations and charities

• Rang De is tailored to cater to the Indian scenario catering to the needs of Indian
villages
• Rang De provides an alternative to charity for donors and receivers.
• Rang De ensure that all borrowers pay an interest rate of 8.5% whereas it is above
15% in other on-line portals which doesn't leverage the people lending factor.
• Rang De aims to be a self sustainable organization with the use of 1% interest it gets
on the loans rather than relying purely on donations to cover our everyday costs

Other organisations like Rang De in India

Rang De is the only such non-profit organization working in India to minimize interest rate
and build a transparent social platform.

• Any Indian Rupee Credit/Debit Card
• Through a Bank Transfer to one of Rang De's bank accounts
• ICICI Netbanking
• Dropping a cheque in favour of 'Rang De' at any ICICI, HSBC or HDFC ATM

When a borrower repays the loan

• It will be credited in the social investor's Rang De Account - Termed as Rang De
credit and can be
◦ Gifted to someone else
◦ Withdrawn to any Indian Bank Account — alternatively, an INR Cheque or
demand draft can be given
◦ invested towards another borrower — reinvestment

How Rang De ensures investments are being used properly

• Before the loan application is accepted
◦ Checks on the borrower by the field partner while he or she applies for the loan
◦ an application screening process by the Rang De team
• While the loan is being repaid
◦ Audio conversations with the borrower by Rang De team members or volunteers
◦ Field visits by the Rang De team or volunteers

Tax exemption for social investments

Since the money given via Rang De is an investment and not a donation, it is not exempted
from tax. Only if the investor states that he wants Rang De to treat his social investment as
a donation to Rang De it can be exempted from tax. All donations are tax exempted.

Volunteering with Rang De — Rang De Chapters

Rang De Chapters are volunteer groups that have been established in cities across India
and abroad in order to spread the awareness of Rang De and the idea of microcredit being
used to alleviate poverty.

Joining a Rang De Chapter

• You can join a Rang De chapter if you are a resident of the particular city and there
is a Rang De chapter in that city (see http://chapters.rangde.org/ to find out if a
chapter is there in your city)
• Should you wish to join a chapter, join the Google Group for that particular chapter.
While requesting membership, state who you are and what you do professionally.

Creating a Rang De Chapter

If there is no Rang De Chapter in your city of residence and you would like to create one
• Drop an email to info@rangde.org. The Rang De team will get back to you. We will
connect you to anyone else that is interested in creating a chapter in your city.
• The Rang De team will get back to you when there are some more volunteers in your
city. A group of three or four people is sufficient to start a chapter. There will be a
kick-off call to clarify any doubts you have and to interact with other volunteers.
• After the call, you can create a Google Group "Rang De <your city> Chapter" to start
communicating. Decide on a place to meet the other members in person.

What Rang De Chapter members can do

Go on Field Visits
• Arrange field visits for social investors to evaluate borrowers and loan processes.
Develop relationships with companies in their cities
• Contact CSR departments of companies in your cities
• Organize awareness events (information session, stalls)
Attend Events or organise your own events
• to spread the awareness about Rang De and possibly get social investments
Arrange social events for chapter members (for chapter members to interact more,
understand each other and work together constructively) such as
• Socially relevant seminars, workshops, plays etc
• Periodic activities such as lunch/dinner, movies, theme parks, sports arcade etc.

Volunteering On line

Document chapter activities briefly
• On http://chapters.rangde.org - and provide links to all media on the event
Contribute to Rang De's social media
• with links and updates on Rang De Facebook Fan Page
• with tweets using our Twitter username - @RangDe
• by blogging on The Rang De Blog
• suggesting/adding content to our Youtube and FlickR channels
Online Publicity
• Email Signatures
• Posting links to Rang De's social media on Facebook
• Tweeting about Rang De
• Posting about Rang De in relevant groups and social networks

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